Top 10 facts about London

It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t love London, and it’s also hard to find someone who doesn’t have a fact or two about the UK’s capital. While we could go on for days and days listing interesting pieces of trivia, here are our 7 favorite facts about London; hopefully there are a few here you haven’t heard before!

1. It’s against the law to die in the Houses of Parliament

Most people are not too concerned about the legalities surrounding their death, and much like the law that made suicide illegal before 1961 (why would you care?), this is a bit of a strange one. The reason behind this law is that the Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster, are a Royal Palace, and anyone who dies there is entitled to a state funeral. This law was recently voted the most absurd in Britain, narrowly beating a Liverpool legislation that bans women from going topless in public, unless they work in a tropical fish store!

2. Great Ormond Street Hospital owns the rights to Peter Pan

Great Ormond Street is possibly the best and most famous children’s hospital in the world. Peter Pan is one of the greatest children’s stories ever told, and in 1929, its author J. M. Barrie gifted the copyright to the hospital, eight years before his death. Ever since then, Great Ormond Street has enjoyed a special relationship with the boy who would never grow up, not to mention the many millions of pounds brought in through book sales, film adaptions and toy sales. You can read more about Peter Pan and GOSH here. Just one more reason to go see the new film, Pan, when it’s released later in the year!

3. People leave all kind of things on the tube

Who among us hasn’t, at one point or another, left something behind on a plane, train or bus? The London Underground (or Tube, as it’s known to the locals) is over 150 years old and carries over a billion passengers a year, so it’s no surprise that it’s seen its fair share of strange items being left behind. Some of the most bizarre include a stuffed puffer fish, a coffin, an urn full of ashes, 3 dead bats in a jar, and an entire park bench!

4. There is one road in London where you have to drive on the right (the wrong side of the road in Britain!)